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Loyiso so glad he quit tedious job at call centre

Loyiso MacDonald Picture Credit: Supplied
Loyiso MacDonald Picture Credit: Supplied

Heart-throb Loyiso MacDonald is one of SA's most sought out leading men.

He is currently heating up the small screen with two great TV roles - one on Mzansi Magic's telenovela The Queen and the other on the second season of e.tv telenovela Gold Diggers.

But he was not always every casting director's dream leading man while he worked as a call centre agent in Durban.

MacDonald manned calls in 2006 after completing matric.

"After high school I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a decent matric, nothing to write home about. I didn't know, going forward, what was the direction I wanted to take, so I just went straight into work at a call centre," Macdonald recalls.

"I was not good at it, I was terrible. If I even made my target I would be surprised. It's kind of the story of my life, where if I don't have a connection to the thing I'm doing, generally you don't get anything out of me.

"So it was eventually working in a call centre environment that pushed me to look for something better and that was acting.

"One day I just decided that enough was enough. One morning my alarm went off and I just kind of turned over, switched it off and lay there for a while."

The 30-year-old enrolled for a short acting workshop in Durban. Eventually he decided to move to Johannesburg in 2011. After tirelessly going through countless auditions, he caught his big break in 2012 when he was cast in SABC3 soapie Isidingo and he has never looked back.

"I have always learned on the job. Every job is an opportunity to switch it up and try something new. I have been very fortunate to work with directors and actors that have been patient with my questions and curiosity.

"Obviously, there are some quiet periods in-between. But that's just the nature of the game; either you get used to it or you are going to drive yourself nuts."

This has been a busy year for MacDonald. He started the year by wrapping up his two-year stint as the villainous Ray on Zabalaza. After a short hiatus, he was cast in a new international film, 3 Way Junction, starring actors Tom Sturridge and Stacy Martin and shot in Northern Cape and Namibia.

He also stars in the upcoming BET mini-series Madiba co-starring Hollywood actors Orlando Jones and Lawrence Fishburne. As if that is not enough, he also filmed a 13-part series, helmed by Mrs Right Guy director Adze Ugah, for the west African market.

"It has been my busiest year yet. Up until I started up on Zabalaza, I was mostly been called as a call actor on shows such as Intersexions and Isidingo."

In a couple of weeks MacDonald and his wife Mathunzi celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary but there are no thoughts of children at the moment.

"We are thinking about it. This industry, I worry about security and making sure you are not bringing someone into an unstable situation... For now we are just enjoying each other's company, being together and figuring things out, before we bring kids into the picture."

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